


Fairness in Leaving

by tryhard



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: AU, F/M, Lost Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 21:15:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1319449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tryhard/pseuds/tryhard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity left Team Arrow years ago, only to run into Oliver while her son, Roy is taking his driver's test.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fairness in Leaving

Felicity was anxious. The hot, sticky seat was pressing up against the back of her knees uncomfortably; her skirt had ridden up slightly, and she pulled at her clothing to put a barrier between her skin and the faux leather that was attempting to brand her. She crossed and uncrossed her legs before she did the same with her ankles and started tapping her toe relentlessly on the tile floor.

She blew some stray hair out of her eyes let out the breath she had been holding in. The not knowing was what bothered her; the grey, unclear spiral was what made her feel in the dark and like she had to move. Would her baby be okay? She had been practicing with him lately, showing him the basics, but she still felt the paranoia that comes with being a mother. You always want to be sure with your own children, have everything in your own hands so you could control the outcome. It’s hard to let your baby take the reins and simply let go.

Instead of reins, Roy had taken the wheel instead. He was taking his driving test now, and Felicity was trying to steel herself for his return. There were two ways that it could go: Roy would either strut confidently past her with his hands tucked in his hoodie like the test had been nothing, that he hadn’t stressed about it for days, or he would say the officer evaluating him was ‘bogus’ and say he didn’t really care anyway. Felicity had a practiced reaction for each of the scenarios. If he was successful she would say that she “knew he would get it” and pat him on the back, even when he shrugged her off. If he failed, she would wait to hug him in the car, tell him she was proud of him no matter how he did and they would go to his favorite bakery and split a cupcake. He liked the pumpkin…

“Felcity?” A voice called, interrupting her thoughts. She stood and turned her head in the direction of the sound. She smiled when she saw who it was. “Oliver! What are you doing here?” she said, moving towards him and bringing him in for a hug. They embraced for a second and sat back down in the seats of the DMV.

They took a minute to catch up. Oliver had married Sara a few years after Felicity married Barry and they had a baby girl around Roy’s age; her name was Thea, Oliver adored her, and she was taking her driving test as well. Oliver was still CEO at QC and Sara completely ran Verdant, their old Team Arrow spot. Felicity was happy for them, it seemed like Oliver had finally gotten his life on track.

They engaged in small talk for a few minutes before Oliver got down to asking Felicity about what they both wanted to talk about: “Felicity, why did you leave?”

She sighed. She knew the question would come, she just hoped that it would be easier to answer after all these years. “I left because I needed to stop waiting for you, to let you go”, she said, searching his eyes for a response. He gave none. “I fell in love with you, and I had it in my head that I could wait for you, that one day I would get a chance to be with you. I was young and stupid and hopeful.” She said, offering him a bitter smile.

“I knew how you felt. It was hard not to notice, I just never thought that it would affect you so much that you would leave” Oliver said. Felicity laughed at that in response. Laying her hand on Oliver’s, she paused before responding. “I could have kept working, honestly it didn’t affect my performance at all” she said, with a slight chuckle. Oliver looked confused, his brow furrowing. “Then why did you do it? Why did you go?” he asked pulling away.

Felicity turned away, and for a second she looked exactly how she had 20 years ago. “It wasn’t fair to either of us. We both needed to let go of the idea of an ‘us’. I needed to let myself look at other men, to forget about the one I could never have, and you needed me gone. I don’t think you let yourself love Sara fully until I left. I was a constantly there, and I think part of you wanted me too.” She paused, letting out a small laugh. “Who knows? If I hadn’t left I might still be working for you, day after day, waiting for my chance. I didn’t want to live like that Oliver. I found my own path. I thought I loved you, but I didn’t know what love is. Love is the way that Barry looks at me in the morning and the way that Roy lets me fuss over his hair even when he hates it. I’m sorry if my sudden departure hurt you, but I hope you see that it was for the best” She said, turning back to look at Oliver.

Oliver did see. The emotions that he had felt for Felicity when she left had been more than just the pain of losing a friend. If she had stayed, he and Sara probably would have broken up, as Sara wouldn’t like him treating another woman like a lover, even if Felicity wasn’t one. It wouldn’t have been fair to Sara to have to share his heart with Felicity.

It gave him peace to know that Felicity had found a family that she deserved, that she had gotten her happy ending.

They heard footsteps approaching and Oliver turned to see a boy walk past him and stop in front of Felicity. He was tall for his age, and he had a big smirk on his face. Felicity beamed up at who Oliver assumed was Roy and said “I knew you would get it” and started to stand.

Roy stopped his mom from leaving. “Hey mom, I met this girl outside, and she didn’t pass her test, so she is really upset…. I was wondering if we could take her to that one bakery. She’s really sweet and I think she needs a pumpkin cupcake.” He finished in a rush. Felicity recognized the nervous energy as the beginnings of a crush and gave him a small smile, “You may have to ask her parents if she is 16 too, we can’t just kidnap her” Felicity said.

Oliver stood next to her. “Is this girl a brunette? Kinda got this devil-may-care attitude going for her?” Oliver questioned Roy. Roy nodded vigorously, “Yeah, how’d you know?”

“That’s my daughter, Thea. You can take her to a bakery, it looks like she found a friend and she might need one right now, just have your mom drop her off after” he said, glancing at Felicity. “She knows where I live”

Roy looked at his mother questioningly, but she just shrugged. “Come on, let’s go meet this girl I keep hearing about” she said, motioning for the door and waving at Oliver.

Oliver watched them leave. He felt good, he had wanted to say goodbye to Felicity and see how she was for years. His phone buzzed and he looked down to see a text from Thea that said “ _Thanks dad_ ” and he smiled. Things felt right.

**Author's Note:**

> First work! Unbeta'd and very quickly written, so please overlook errors, but leave criticism and comments.


End file.
